Joint Council Ethiopia Caucus Co-Chair, Dan Lauer of Holt Int., just returned from a meeting with the Ethiopian Ministry of Women’s Affairs Ethiopia Ministry of Women’s, Children and Youth Affairs. The Ministry has confirmed that the Ethiopian Government’s meetings on social affairs have resulted in opportunities for intercountry adoption to continue.

The Ministry also responded positively to our suggestion of the formation of a small working group to work in collaboration with the government on areas related to children outside of family care, including intercountry adoption. The working group would be initially comprised of Joint Council and our three Caucus Co-Chairs. While details have yet to be developed, the goal of the working group would in part be to identify policy and practice issues which negatively impact the utilization of intercountry adoption and the development of alternative family care options.

We hope to visit the Ministry in late April to initiate an ongoing process and the formation of the working group. As we develop our Ethiopia Initiative we will keep you informed of our strategy, plans and goals.

Our thanks again to Dan for representing Joint Council as Caucus Co-Chair so effectively.